Memorial Day in St. Joseph's

We got home around 8pm last night. This morning we spend the day enjoying St. Joseph's. First we went to the beach and tried out our new beach sun shade. We had a great time playing in the water and with the sand. We  had a nice picnic. Then the thunderclouds started rolling in. We decided to pack up our stuff and head to the carousel. I had packed the kids dry clothes for the carousel. Just as we got inside it started to rain. I thought it would be perfect. We could ride the carousel and then figured the rain would stop. Boy was I wrong. The rain kept coming! So we went to the Kid's museum down by the carousel, we bought passes to the one on the bluff last week and they are part of the same group. We had a fun time, but  it still kept raining. Finally we realized it wasn't going to stop. Poor Eric ran home in the rain and drove the car down to pick us up. It didn't stop raining until 7:30pm tonight. Even with the ran we still had a really fun morning at the beach, and a good day together as a family.

 

Day 3- Detroit & Home

We slept in Sunday morning and then drove from London to Detroit. Crossing the border back into Michigan wasn't as easy as getting into Canada. We were randomly selected for secondary screening. We had to pull over and answer a whole bunch of questions and then they searched our car. Our story is a little bit confusing because we are from Utah living in Michigan for the summer,  and if you ask Gretta she will tell you we are from California. Which is really true. After they searched our car they let us go. It took about 45 minutes. We made it just in time for church in Detroit and then took a picture of the Detroit Temple,. 

Afterward we headed to the Henry Ford Museum.

Our picnic by the Temple. I am not sitting down because there were large ants. The picnic didn't last long.

They drive Model T cars around the village. It is pretty cool. 

Then we headed home. We had to make a stop along the way in Ann Arbor to check out "THE BIG House"

We were home by 8pm Sunday night. Just in time for Eliza to show us her newest trick. Taking off her own PJ's. 

She is getting to be a big kid.

We sure had a great time. I was really a whirl wind tour, but still well worth it. The girls were great and we enjoyed being together as a family. 

Day 2- Palmyra & Niagara Falls

We started out at the Smith Family Farm and the Sacred Grove. Here we are in front of the log home where he lived when Angel Moroni appeared to him. 

Here is a photo by Gretta.

One of the places Joseph Smith hit the plates was on top of this dresser in a tool box. 

These next pictures are in the fame home they lived in after the log home.

Another place he hid the plates was in bed with his sisters. A mob came looking for them at night and they searched the whole room, but not the girls in bed and the plates were kept hidden.

This is Alvin's tree. They planted it after Alvin, Joseph's brother died. 

These next few pictures are from the Sacred Grove.

An attempt at a family picture.

The Sacred Grove was a very peaceful place.

The Sacred Grove was a very peaceful place. Being in the Sacred Grove helped strengthened  testimony that Joseph Smith at the age of 14 saw God the Father and  His Son Jesus Christ in the grove as an answer to his prayer.

Then we went to the Hill Cumorah. The church has a nice visitors center there. 

 

Then we went to  the E.B. Grandin book show where the first 5,000

Then we went to the E.B.Grandin Print Shop where the first 5, 000 copies of the Book of Mormon were published. It took 18 months to print and bind the copies. They were beautiful book. They would have cost about 2 days wages to buy.

 

 One of the things that made an impression on me is seeing a sheet of the original manuscript from the translation. It is just word after word. There is no punctuation or defining of paragraphs. Joseph would say a word and the scribe would write it down. There are also no crossed out words. It is pretty amazing.

I know the Book of Mormon is true. Not from seeing these places today, although that did strengthen my testimony, but because I have read it and prayed to find out.

Then we drove about 2 hours to Niagara 

There were a lot of people there, but we still had a good time. The Falls are very spectacular even from the top. 

It was a great day! Then we headed to Canada. It is the first time the girls have been out of the country. We stayed in London, Ontario, Canada that night.